Striking members of Las Vegas’ Culinary Workers Local 226 shut down the Las Vegas strip by blocking strip traffic, resulting in 98 arrests.
The union is one of Las Vegas’ most powerful with 54,000 members that is protesting against the Cosmopolitan Casino. Contract negotiations have been underway for the last 18 months with no resolution. Picketing began on March 1, 2013 but today was the first time the group utilized civil disobedience to get their point across.
The striking workers are negotiating a new work contract but have not been able to find a resolution with Cosmopolitan owners’ Deutsche Bank. Both sides are at odds over benefits, health care coverage and guaranteed work hours.
Many of the protesters were other Las Vegas casino employees coming out in solidarity for Cosmopolitan’s kitchen workers.
